


things that do us part

by whatsthepointe



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Implied/Referenced Character Death, Oneshot, Post Season 7, cole's mother and libber are mentioned, the boys get a lil heart to heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:55:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24941173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatsthepointe/pseuds/whatsthepointe
Summary: after ray and maya are reunited with their children, cole can't help but feel a twinge of jealousy.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39





	things that do us part

**Author's Note:**

> set in a slight au where the events of skybound are remembered, so cole knows jay is adopted
> 
> naturally inspired by the imminent release of season 13 and... rock mom

Cole tried so, so hard to be happy for Kai and Nya.

And, truthfully, he was. Seeing his friend’s faces when they got Ray and Maya back was priceless, and he couldn’t help but smile himself; they looked so  _ happy. _

But FSM, he was so jealous. If only his mother could reappear.

After the loss of Wu, and the relatively recent transition from ghost back to human,  _ dead to undead- _ Cole began to think about his mother a lot more.

The earth ninja found himself sitting on the Bounty’s edge for the third night in a row, with his feet limply dangling off the ship’s deck and chin lightly rested on the railing, not thinking about anything in particular. Sleep was out of the question, again, so he decided to get some fresh air outside. He could be alone and just sit and _think._ Plus, Ninjago City at night wasn’t a bad view either.

Well, mostly alone.

“Do you even know what time it is?” A voice sounded behind him.

Cole was startled from his trance and turned around to see his best friend walking towards him. Seeing it was just Jay, he looked back out over the city.

_ No. Not really.  _ “Ten?”

“Try two,” Jay laughed, before seating himself down beside the black ninja.

“Oh.”

“Ninjago City is really pretty at night,” Jay took a breath in, “but I assume you’re not out here to look at the skyline?” 

He turned his face from the city to Cole, who still had his eyes cast down to the streets of Ninjago.

Cole thought about what he could say. He could tell the truth-  _ I’m so mad and jealous that Kai and Nya got their parents back but my mom is gone for good, and now so is Wu-  _ or maybe a half-truth- _ I just couldn’t sleep-  _ or lie-  _ yes, I’m here to look at the city...at two in the morning...and I’ve been out here since ten... _

He shifted slightly, then looked at the blue ninja sitting beside him, and amber eyes met blue ones. Would Jay understand about Lilly? He had Ed and Edna, but...

Half-truth it was.

“I couldn’t sleep. You know, ghost to human things, I guess.”

_ Great, Cole, that was convincing _ .

That seemed to be a satisfactory answer for Jay, who just nodded and directed his attention back to the orange glow of Ninjago City.

The two friends sat there in silence, watching the sparse cars go by on the streets below them. Finally, Cole spoke up. 

“Could you not sleep either?”

His friend hesitated- it seemed as if he was about to say something from the heart, but all that came out was a hitched “yeah.”

Cole knew Jay better than that. “You can tell me what’s really up, I won’t tell anyone. You have my word.”

The blue ninja looked at his feet, tapping them lightly against the ship’s hull.

“Jay-”

The master of lightning sat up from his slumped position on the deck of the Bounty.

“I just... I just don’t know if you’d understand.” He fiddled with his thumbs, a sure tell he was hiding something.

Cole snorted. “ _ Try  _ me.”

“It’s gonna sound weird, and I feel guilty that I feel this way, but I’m jealous of Nya and Kai. I have my mom and dad, you know, but I guess I just wish I met my biological parents. I’m not sure, I should be-”

“You should be happy for them but you’re more envious instead? Trust me, I know the feeling.” 

Jay blinked in surprise. “You...do?”

“Yeah. I’m so glad for Kai and Nya, don’t get me wrong, but my mom won’t come back, Jay. She’s dead. Permanently. And that’s,” the black ninja flinched, “that’s a long time. And now that Wu’s gone,” He took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. It felt good to get that off his chest- at the same time, it hurt so, so much. He decided not to finish his thought.

“Now I feel even worse,” Jay slouched back over the railing beside Cole, “I kinda forgot about your mom. I grew up with the best parents ever. I don’t even know why I’m mad at Kai and Nya when they grew up with no parents at all- I mean, sheesh,” 

Silence again.

Cole scooted a little closer to the blue ninja and spoke softly. “But I understand- I mean I don’t, but- but you’re allowed to feel jealous, you know that, right?”

Jay chuckled to himself. “And  _ you’re  _ allowed to feel sorry for yourself for once, you dirtclod.”

The master of earth’s eyes fell, but his smile remained. 

“Yeah, I guess so.”

The world went soft for a moment or two, and everything was alright. No enemies to defeat, no unspoken falsities or excuses for being up at two in the morning.

“First Master, Jay, it’s been seven years and I still miss her so much, and with Maya coming back- I dunno,” Cole stalled for a moment, then whispered just so Jay could barely hear. “Her name was Lilly.”

“I’m so sorry.” Jay didn’t know what else to say, but the look on his face must have sufficed for his best friend. The blue ninja looked up at the stars. “I don’t know much of anything about my birth mom, other than the fact that her name was Libber.”

Another comfortable silence fell upon the two friends. As Cole watched the twinkling lights of Ninjago City below them, he wondered how terrifying it would be if he told Jay exactly how he felt. 

A few more minutes passed before Jay stood up and brushed himself off. “I think I’m going to try to get some sleep,” he extended a hand towards his friend, “and you should try to do the same. You haven’t really slept in, like, what? A year?” 

Cole laughed. “I slept for three days straight after coming through the rift, dumbass.” He took Jay’s hand and hoisted himself up from the Bounty’s railing. “And a little during the time twins thing,” he added.

“Just saying, three days doesn’t really make up for a year,” Jay joked and rolled his eyes. “But, for what it’s worth, It’s nice to have you back. And, you know, be able to talk like this.” 

Cole nodded. 

As Jay turned to go back into the Bounty’s cabin, the earth ninja caught his sleeve. “Wait,”

Cole pulled him into a hug. For a while, the two just stood there, as if to make sure that the other was here.  _ They’ve already lost enough people in their lives. _

**Author's Note:**

> as always, tumblr here: http://imthepointe.tumblr.com/  
> feel free to ask me anything!


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